He may be old and he may be doughy, but for some reason, he’s also up a tree.  Your Major Spoilers review of Frontiersman #2 from Image Comics awaits!

FRONTIERSMAN #2

Writer: Patrick Kindlon
Artist: Marco Ferrari
Colorist: Marco Ferrari
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Editor: James Hepplewhite
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 3, 2021

Previously in Frontiersman:  One hundred and fifty feet up a tree and all over the news, Frontiersman is just asking to be attacked.  An old foe obliges, and he’s a cosmic menace to boot!

But does Galaxie Prime have a more complex motive for the battle?

UP A TREE WITHOUT A PADDLE

After returning to action after years of inactivity, The Frontiersman has climbed to the top of a Pacific Redwood, lured back to action for the good of the environment.  Unfortunately, he’s also attracting a lot of attention, what with the news media surrounding his tree and an unseen villain in the shadows who wants to see him knocked back down to the ground.  Before anyone can act, though, a being known as Galaxie Prime, one of the villains Frontiersman used to fight with his super-team, The Fellow Travelers.  Weirdly, though, the humanoid galaxy doesn’t want to fight.  That’s kind of beyond the point, though, as Frontiersman does.  Their conversation finally brings to light the truth: Galaxie’s heart was never in villainy, and thanks to Ex Nihilo, one of Frontiersman’s old teammates, they found something important, and now they want Frontiersman to help them find her.

The reasoning AND the response are surprising.

“WHAT *IS* THIS?” “SUPERHERO $#!+.”

When the second issue of a book makes you feel like you’re jumping into decades of continuity, it can be a bad thing, but Frontiersman #2 makes it all work in an unexpected and kind of amazing way.  Fans of Black Hammer or Invincible will want to check this out, not only for the fun main character, but for the way we are given the backstory of this world.  Frontiersman’s relationship with his daughter is a fun hook, but seeing this character (who calls himself the “hillbilly hero”) in the middle of a giant cosmic shmegegge is is wonderful stuff, and the art is creative and expressive in its depiction of a strange Ditko-style metaphysical world.  Best of all is the touching ending, which I don’t want to spoil for any of you who haven’t picked up the book yet.  Suffice to say that it makes the whole story…

BOTTOM LINE: DELIGHTFUL AND COMPLEX

All in all, Frontiersman #2 makes me excited to learn more about our buck skinned protagonist’s life and history, even more than the first issue did, and it does so with remarkable subtlety, wild-and-crazy art and good old-fashioned heart, earning 4 out of 5 stars overall.  If you’re looking for a book that reminds you of ’80s Nexus, the best parts of ’90s Image or the creative DNA of Black Hammer, Frontiersman should be right up your alley.

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FRONTIERSMAN #2

80%

80%

I'm Enjoying This

Like Black Hammer or Invincible, this book plops you down in a full-fledged shared universe, and now it's going to show us the sights through the eyes of an over-the-hill mountain man. It's good stuff.

• Writing

  9
• Art

  7
• Coloring

  8
• User Ratings (2 Votes)
  8.9